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Reactions of atmospheric particulate stabilized Criegee intermediates lead to high-molecular-weight aerosol components MingYi Wang, Lei Yao, Jun Zheng, XinKe Wang, Jianmin Chen, Xin Yang, Douglas R. Worsnop, Neil M. Donahue, and Lin Wang Environ. Sci. Technol., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.6b02114 • Publication Date (Web): 17 May 2016 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on May 24, 2016
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Reactions of atmospheric particulate stabilized Criegee intermediates
2
lead to high-molecular-weight aerosol components
3 4
MingYi Wang†, Lei Yao†, Jun Zheng‡, XinKe Wang†, JianMin Chen†, Xin Yang†,
5
Douglas R. Worsnop∆, Neil M. Donahue§, Lin Wang†,*
6 7
†
Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention (LAP3),
8
Department of Environmental Science & Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai
9
200433, China
10
‡
11
Control, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044,
12
China
13
∆
14
§
15
Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution
Aerodyne Research, Billerica, MA 01821, United States
Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes
16
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ABSTRACT
18
Aging of organic aerosol particles is one of the most poorly understood topics in
19
atmospheric aerosol research. Here, we used an aerosol flow tube together with an
20
iodide-adduct high-resolution time-of-flight chemical-ionization mass spectrometer
21
equipped with a Filter Inlet for Gases and AEROsols (FIGAERO-HRToF-CIMS) to
22
investigate heterogeneous ozonolysis of oleic acid (OL), developing a comprehensive
23
oxidation mechanism with observed products. In addition to the well-known
24
first-generation C9 products including nonanal, nonanoic acid, azelaic acid, and
25
9-oxononanoic acid, the iodide-adduct chemical ionization permitted unambiguous
26
determination of a large number of high-molecular-weight particulate products up to
27
670 Da with minimum amounts of fragmentation. These high-molecular-weight
28
products are characterized by a fairly uniform carbon oxidation state but stepwise
29
addition of a carbon backbone moiety, and hence continuous decrease in the volatility.
30
Our results demonstrate that heterogeneous oxidation of organic aerosols has a
31
significant effect on the physiochemical properties of organic aerosols and that
32
reactions of particulate SCIs from ozonolysis of an unsaturated particulate species
33
represent a previously underappreciated mechanism that lead to formation of
34
high-molecular-weight particulate products that are stable under typical atmospheric
35
conditions.
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1. INTRODUCTION
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Aerosols exert large and uncertain climate effects1 and are thought to kill more than 7
39
million people annually2. Organics constitute a large fraction of the ambient particle
40
mass with rich and poorly understood chemistry. Their chemical evolution may well
41
govern aerosol physiochemical properties and environmental impacts3. The
42
atmosphere is strongly oxidizing, and unlike well-controlled laboratory synthesis,
43
complexity is an essential characteristic of atmospheric oxidation chemistry. Until
44
recently, however, we have lacked the experimental tools to probe and understand that
45
chemistry in anything like full detail, even for relatively simple model systems. A key
46
challenge is to simultaneously describe these complex mechanisms in full detail and
47
to synthesize those descriptions within integrative frameworks that bring order and
48
meaning to the complexity. Here we present results for one such model system – fatty
49
acid oxidation by ozone – using new mass spectrometric methods to illuminate the
50
mechanism with unprecedented detail.
51
Mechanisms for evolution of organic aerosols can be broken down into three key
52
classes: functionalization, fragmentation, and oligomerization. These govern
53
trajectories of organic-aerosol components within a space defined by carbon number
54
(nC) and carbon oxidation state (OSC)4. Functionalization reactions add functional
55
groups to a carbon backbone without altering nC. Fragmentation reactions cleave the
56
carbon backbone, generating two or more products with lower nC and (often) higher
57
OSC. Oligomerization reactions, the association of two organic molecules, preserve
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OSC but increase nC, and hence lead to a large reduction in volatility. Evidence for the
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important role of such accretion reactions in the formation of secondary organic
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aerosols includes identification of high-molecular-weight species such as hemiacetals
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and acetals5, peroxyhemiacetals and peroxyacetals6,
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organosulfates10. Reactions of stabilized Criegee intermediates (SCIs) may be another
63
class of accretion reaction leading to formation of oligomers in organic aerosols11, 12.
7
, aldols8, esters9, and
64
SCIs come from collisional stabilization of Criegee intermediates formed via
65
decomposition of primary ozonides following the reaction of alkenes and ozone.
66
Gaseous SCIs react with water vapor13, sulfur dioxide14, nitrogen dioxide15, and small
67
organic molecules15. The fate of SCIs in atmospheric particles is less elucidated, even
68
though solution phase ozonolysis has been studied much more historically16. Oleic
69
acid (OL) is a C18 ω-9 unsaturated carboxylic acid and a major constituent of
70
triglycerides making up olive oil. It is a model low-volatility organic compound and is
71
commonly used as a tracer for cooking activities17. Following heterogeneous
72
ozonolysis of oleic acid, secondary reactions of particulate SCIs formed from the
73
primary ozonolysis are thought to lead to the formation of high-molecular-weight
74
oligomers18-22. The reaction mechanisms based on a few randomly identified
75
oligomers from their fragmentation patterns, although covering a number of reaction
76
pathways, are fragmentary and seemingly contradictory in some cases. Since this is a
77
benchmark for heterogeneous oxidation of unsaturated organics by ozone, a
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comprehensive reaction mechanism unifying the seemingly disparate fragmentary
79
mechanisms is important. A quantitative understanding on the branching ratios of
80
different reaction pathways and on the concentration evolution with excellent mass
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closure is necessary to permit accurate treatment of heterogeneous aging processes of
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atmospheric unsaturated particles in global models.
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2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
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As illustrated in Figure S1, we carried out heterogeneous ozonolysis reactions in an
86
aerosol flow tube coupled to a High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Chemical-Ionization
87
Mass Spectrometer equipped with a Filter Inlet for Gases and AEROsols
88
(FIGAERO-HRToF-CIMS) using the iodide ion (I-) as the reagent ion. Details of the
89
experimental setup and the analytical methods follow.
90
We generated pure organic particles via homogeneous nucleation by passing a flow
91
of ultra-high purity (UHP) N2 (99.99%, Pujiang Specialty Gases Factory, China) at
92
0.1 slpm (standard liters per minute) over an insulated organic reservoir kept at 110 ±
93
1 °C. The outflow was immediately diluted by 1.0 slpm zero air generated by a pure
94
air generator (Model 737, Aadco, USA), and then directed to a cylindrical VOC
95
scrubber filled with a mixture of KMnO4/activated charcoal (1:1, v/v) to scavenge
96
excess organic vapors. We measured the size distribution of the organic particles using
97
a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS, consisting of one DMA 3081 and one CPC
98
3775, TSI, USA). The geometric mean diameter, standard deviation, and integrated
99
number concentration of oleic acid (OL, ≥ 99.0%, Sigma-Aldrich) particles were 110
100
nm, 1.45, and 1.8×105 particles cm-3, respectively. The geometric mean diameter,
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standard deviation and integrated number concentration of erucic acid (EA, ≥ 99.0%,
102
Sigma-Aldrich) particles were 76 nm, 1.32, and 6.8×105 particles cm-3, respectively.
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In the case of the two-component mixture particles, we dissolved a mixture of 37.5%
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oleic acid / 62.5% 1-dodecanol (or 1-octadecene / 1-dodecyl aldehyde /
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2-hexyldecanoic acid) (mol/mol) in ethanol and then atomized the mixture. The
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outflow was then directed through a VOC scrubber to eliminate ethanol before it
107
entered the aerosol flow tube.
108
We produced ozone by photolysis of molecular oxygen using an Hg Pen-ray lamp
109
(Model 600, Jelight, USA) and monitored the concentration of ozone in the outflow
110
with a UV absorption ozone analyzer (Model 49i, Thermo, USA).
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The aerosol flow tube consists of a 7.75 mm i.d. stainless-steel moveable aerosol
112
injector that traverses the centerline of a quartz tube with an i.d. of 8 cm and a length
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of 1.2 m, and two upstream side injectors for the introduction of the gaseous reactant.
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In this study, we introduced the organic aerosol and the ozone into the flow tube
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through the movable injector and the side injectors, respectively. The total flow
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through the reaction zone in the flow tube was typically 6.0 slpm, indicating a laminar
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flow (Reynolds number of ~108) at 2.0 cm/s with an entrance length of ~50 cm to
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fully achieve the laminar condition. The mixing length was 44 cm23, based on a
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diffusion coefficient of 0.1444 cm2/s for O3 in air at the atmospheric pressure24. Hence,
120
the interaction distance between organic particles and ozone was set between 40 cm to
121
80 cm, corresponding to a residence time of 20-40 s.
122
We
analyzed
the
gaseous Briefly,
and
particle-associated
HRToF-CIMS
offers
organics
a
123
FIGAERO-HRToF-CIMS.
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measurement with high sensitivity and high mass resolution25-28. FIGAERO is a
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spectrometry
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manifold with two operation modes29. In gas mode, we directly analyzed the gas
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sample with the HRToF-CIMS while simultaneously collecting particles via a separate
127
dedicated port, using a PTFE filter (5 µm, Millipore, USA) that collected organic
128
particles with ~99.5% efficiency as measured by an SMPS. In particle mode, we
129
analyzed vapors evolved from the temperature-programmed thermal desorption of the
130
collected particles by heated UHP N2. We used a moveable tray to switch
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automatically between the two modes. Note that before filter collection we directed
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the aerosol sample flow through a cylindrical diffusion ozone scrubber filled with a
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mixture of Na2SO3/activated charcoal (1:1, v/v). The particle loss in the ozone
134
scrubber was negligible30. The typical collection time for particle samples was 3 min.
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We used iodide-adduct ionization in this study for its large negative mass defect,
136
which provides an added degree of separation, as well as minimal fragmentation
137
during adduct formation31. We formed iodide ions (I-) by passing a 1.0 slpm flow of
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UHP N2 over a diffusion tube filled with methyl iodide (CH3I, Xiya Reagent, China),
139
and then through an 241Am ion source (0.1 mCi). We then mixed the reagent ion flow
140
with a sample flow in the ion-molecule reactor (IMR) at ~110 mbar, resulting in I-
141
(m/z 126.9050 amu) as the most abundant ion and (I·H2O)- (m/z 144.9156 amu) as the
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next dominant one. We tuned the axial electric field strengths ( 99.97 % of entering particles but leaving semi-volatile gases largely
155
unperturbed, and then through the FIGAERO filter for the same collection duration as
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for a normal particle sample. We then subtracted the background signals from the
157
sample signals.
158
We calibrated the instrument by spiking the FIGAERO filter with solutions of
159
nonanal (NN, ≥ 95.0%, Sigma-Aldrich), nonanoic acid (NA, ≥ 97.0%,
160
Sigma-Aldrich), and azelaic acid (AA, ≥ 98.0%, Sigma-Aldrich) at three known
161
concentrations. The linear correlation coefficients of all compounds were larger than
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0.95 (Figure S2).
163 164
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
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3.1 Kinetics, Products and Mechanism. We generated oleic-acid particles with
166
diameters near 100 nm and exposed them to excess ozone in an aerosol flow tube
167
(Figure S1). We measured the uptake coefficient by examining the decay of oleic
168
acid as a function of the ozone exposure, and determined the products using an
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iodide-adduct
High-Resolution
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Spectrometer
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(FIGAERO-HRToF-CIMS)29,
172
ozonolysis reaction of oleic acid is calculated to be (1.19 ± 0.09) × 105 atm-1 s-1 for
173
ozone exposures ranging from 0 to 1.2 × 10-5 atmsec, as plotted in Figure S3. The
174
derived uptake coefficient , (1.44 ± 0.11) × 10-3, is reported together with values
175
from previous studies in Table S1.
equipped
with 31
.
Time-of-Flight a
Filter
Inlet
Chemical-Ionization for
Gases
and
Mass
AEROsols
The pseudo-first-order rate constant () of the
176
The uptake coefficient we determine is in fairly good consistence with the previous
177
ones obtained by directly monitoring the decay of the condensed-phase oleic acid,
178
which are, specifically, AMS studies by Morris et al.32 ((1.6±0.2)×10−3) and Katrib et
179
al.33 ((1.25±0.2)×10−3), an aerosol-CIMS study by Hearn et al.34 ((1.38±0.06)×10−3),
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and a GCMS study by Mendez et al.35 ((1.0±0.2)×10−3). On the other hand, other
181
studies that determined the uptake coefficient by monitoring the O3 loss to oleic-acid
182
surfaces, reported a value of ~8×10−4 (ref.
183
and O3-based methods may be attributed to additional oleic acid consumption by
184
secondary reactions within the particles. Oleic acid-based methods that do not account
185
for the secondary chemistry may artificially overestimate the loss rate of oleic acid,
186
resulting in a larger value for .
36-39
). The discrepancy between oleic acid-
187
The mass spectra of initially pure oleic-acid particles after exposure to ozone are
188
complex, as shown in Figure 1. In addition to iodide adducts of unreacted oleic acid
189
and four well-known first-generation products (nonanal, NN; nonanoic acid, NA;
190
azelaic acid, AA; and 9-oxononanoic acid, OX), dozens of other iodide-adduct ions
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are evident. The ions can contain only carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and iodide, so the
192
high mass-resolving power of our Time-of-Flight mass spectrometer allows us to
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assign a molecular formula to almost all of the ions, with a mass tolerance of < 3 ppm
194
(except for five ions < 40 ppm (Figure S4)). The associated isotope distribution
195
further supports our molecular formula assignments. Without the FIGEARO
196
thermograms we would be unable to identify or separate isomers, but as we shall
197
discuss below, those thermograms provide important additional information.
198
We propose an SCI-based reaction mechanism to elucidate the formation routes of
199
all the identified products. Figure 2 presents this as a flowchart from the parent oleic
200
acid to the first-, second-, and multi-generation products, using one molecular
201
structure as an example for each category. Full details are provided in Figure S5A-C.
202
In brief, oleic acid reacts with ozone to form a primary ozonide, the decomposition of
203
which leads to the formation of four first-generation products (nonanal, nonanoic acid,
204
azelaic acid, and 9-oxononanoic acid) and two SCIs. The SCIs either isomerize to
205
form an acid (nonanoic acid or azelaic acid), react with oleic acid, react with a
206
first-generation carbonyl (nonanal or 9-oxononanoic acid) to form three secondary
207
ozonides (SOZs), react with a first-generation carboxylic acid (nonanoic acid, azelaic
208
acid, or 9-oxononanoic acid) to form six linear α-acyloxyalkyl hydroperoxides
209
(AAHPs), or react with another SCI to form three cyclic diperoxides (DPs)18-21. SCIs
210
can further react either with an SOZ to form an SOZ-AAHP (four potentially
211
identified in this study), with a DP to form a DP-AAHP (four potentially identified),
212
or with an AAHP to form either an SOZ-AAHP (four potentially identified) or an
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AAHP-AAHP (eight potentially identified) depending on whether an aldehyde or a
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carboxylic acid group reacts with the SCI18. In some cases, we observed dehydration
215
products from these species, for example with AAHP-AAHP8 in Figure S5A. Many
216
of these species share identical molecular formulas and hence the adducts in Figure 1
217
are labelled with all possible isomers. We observed only trace signals of SOZ1, DP1,
218
and AAHP1, either because further reactions consume most of them, or because the
219
absence of terminal functional groups leads to a low clustering affinity with iodide.
220
Figure 2 and Figure S5B indicate that SCIs react with an intact oleic acid to form
221
an OL-AAHP (two potentially identified) or a dioxolane (DO, four potentially
222
identified), depending on whether the SCIs react with the carboxylic acid group or the
223
double bond in oleic acid. This is presumably why the observed acid:ozone
224
stoichiometry is greater than 1:133,
225
OL-AAHP-AAHP (one potentially identified) and with DO to form DO-AAHP (six
226
potentially identified)22. In addition, the dioxolane ring in DO cleaves, giving rise to
227
oxooctadecanoic acid (OO, two potentially identified), which then reacts with SCIs
228
stepwise to form OO-AAHP (four potentially identified) and OO-AAHP-AAHP (two
229
potentially identified). Finally, Figure 2 and Figure S5C show that AAHPs formed
230
from the SCIs react with a first-generation carbonyl (nonanal or 9-oxononanoic acid)
231
to form twelve peroxyhemiacetals (PHAs), which then react with a first-generation
232
carboxylic acid (nonanoic acid, azelaic acid, or 9-oxononanoic acid) to form
233
bis(α-acyloxy-α-alkyl)peroxides (BAAPs)20.
234
39
. SCIs also react with OL-AAHPs to form
We believe that the SCI-based reactions dominant in this system based on our
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product analysis, though our current analytical technique does not allow a direct
236
observation of the unimolecular/bimolecular reactions of CIs. If there were significant
237
non-thermalized CI reactions, a significant fraction of the C9 products with multiple
238
oxygen-containing functional groups (oxygen number more than that of azelaic acid)
239
should appear, but those products are not observed in our study. Besides, particulate
240
CIs (including most of the surface CIs) are surrounded by a large amount of “solvent
241
molecules”, and the “cage effect” makes them highly likely to be stabilized due to
242
collisional energy transfer40, 41.
243
We confirmed this mechanism with several tests. We conducted experiments with
244
erucic acid (EA), a C22 ω-13 unsaturated carboxylic acid common in rape-seed oil
245
triglycerides. This reaction forms SCIs with nine and thirteen carbon atoms, but the
246
identified products from erucic acid ozonolysis are fully consistent with the
247
SCI-based
248
mass-to-charge-ratios greater than 800 amu because the signal-to-noise-ratio was
249
insufficient (Figure S6).
mechanism
we
propose.
We
did
not
observe
products
with
250
We also studied ozonolysis of particles consisting of two-component mixtures in
251
order to further test the proposed mechanism. Ozonolysis of 37.5% oleic acid / 62.5%
252
1-octadecene (mol/mol) confirms the previous proposition that SCIs can add to a
253
double bond22, eventually leading to a decomposition product from a DO analogue
254
(Figure S7.). Ozonolysis of 37.5% oleic acid / 62.5% 1-dodecyl aldehyde (mol/mol)
255
and 37.5% oleic acid / 62.5% 2-hexyldecanoic acid (mol/mol) confirms that SCIs
256
from ozonolysis of oleic acid react with aldehyde and carboxylic acid moieties,
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resulting in two new SOZ and two new AAHP species, respectively (Figure S8-
258
Figure S9). For ozonolysis of 37.5% oleic acid / 62.5% 1-dodecanol mixtures
259
(mol/mol), we did not observe products other than those from ozonolysis of pure oleic
260
acid, despite a previous report that anti SCI can react with methanol42.
261 262
3.2 Thermogram Analysis. We carefully examined the FIGAERO thermograms,
263
finding evidence for thermal decomposition of second- and multi-generation products
264
supporting our proposed mechanism. We show an example in Figure 3A-C. The
265
thermogram of azelaic acid contains two peaks: the lower-temperature peak
266
corresponds with pure azelaic acid samples, while the higher-temperature peak
267
corresponds to the evaporation and decomposition of the SCI2-OX association
268
product AAHP5 (with a loss of H2O) and also the tertiary products
269
DP-AAHP2/DP-AAHP3/AAHP-AAHP5. In addition, although no authentic standard
270
of oxooctadecanoic acid (OO) is available, the thermogram of OO suggests that the
271
two peaks likely arise from the decomposition of DO1/DO2 (evidently dominant) and
272
OO-AAHP3/OO-AAHP4 (minor), consistent with our mechanism.
273
In Figure 3D and Figure 3E, we present a comprehensive picture of the evaporation
274
and decomposition for all of the C9, C18, and C27 particulate products using the
275
molecular weight of each species as the abscissa. The ordinate in Figure 3D is the
276
thermogram temperature when the signal peaks for each compound, and in Figure 3E
277
is the average carbon oxidation state of each compound. These integrative spaces are
278
analogues of the nC-OSC space, but here the values of nC are trivial (9, 18, and 27) and
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so we use molecular weight because it provides more information and better
280
separation.
281
The filled symbols in Figure 3D identify the species in Figure 3A-C. Generally, the
282
temperature of the cooler (first) peak of a double-peak thermogram increases with
283
molecular weight, consistent with the fact that larger products will evaporate later.
284
The higher-temperature peak of a double-peak thermogram usually comes from
285
thermal decomposition of later-generation higher molecular-weight products. That
286
product usually is associated with a single-peak thermogram. However, multiple
287
isomers for a given molecular weight, especially in the case of later-generation
288
products, can also cause multiple-peak thermograms. Also, there is often a lag
289
between decomposition and evaporation for later-generation products when
290
decomposition happens at a lower temperature than desorption for at least one of the
291
fragments. Hence, a perfect match is rare between the thermogram temperature of an
292
early-generation product formed from thermal decomposition of a later-generation
293
oligomer and the thermogram temperature of that oligomer. The major thermal
294
decomposition zone is more like the rectangular band in Figure 3D. Note that the
295
thermogram of nonanal displayed a single peak. Nonanal is far too volatile to reside in
296
the condensed phase as a monomer, so all of the observed particulate nonanal came
297
from the thermal decomposition of later-generation products with similar
298
decomposition temperatures.
299
Our data clearly indicate that accretion reactions occur through stepwise addition of
300
SCIs to molecules with carbonyl, carboxylic, and olefin groups. The least oxidized
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SCI from oleic acid is an isomer of nonanoic acid, with OSC = -1.56, while the most
302
oxidized SCI is an isomer of azelaic acid, with OSC = -0.89. Hence, as reactions
303
proceed, the carbon oxidation state of particulate products will converge into a range
304
between those values, corresponding to the gray band in Figure 3E. Although the OSC
305
of the particulate phase is confined to a fairly narrow range, the average molecular
306
weight increases with increasing generation number, resulting in lower volatility.
307
These data further illustrate that thermal scissions of association products (except
308
for from DO to OO) always occur at the linkages between C9 units despite of the
309
different generation numbers; thermal decomposition intensively occurs within the
310
decomposition zone. The lowest-energy pathway leading to evaporation of
311
multi-generation material from the condensed phase is not evaporation of the product
312
itself but rather decomposition and subsequent evaporation of a more volatile
313
decomposition product.
314 315
3.3 Branching Ratios. We can identify the large majority of species in the complex
316
mass spectrum produced by heterogeneous ozonolysis of oleic acid. Furthermore, the
317
thermal decomposition information embedded in the FIGEARO thermograms
318
confirms the mechanism we infer to explain production of those species. The last
319
question is whether we can explain the kinetics quantitatively and obtain mass closure.
320
Figure 4 shows that we can. We developed a simplified model focusing on the
321
production and loss of first-generation species and especially the chemistry of the
322
SCIs.
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During the ozonolysis of oleic acid, two SCI species are produced. These SCIs can
324
further react with the C9 products (including aldehydes, acids, and another SCI), or
325
with an intact oleic acid, or undergo isomerization. It is not currently feasible to
326
separate these reactions into independent pathways based on our data set.
327
Consequently, we simplify the reaction mechanism by ignoring the reactions of the
328
second- and multi-generation products, and focus on bimolecular reaction of the SCIs
329
with first-generation (C9) products (k1a), bimolecular reaction of the SCIs with oleic
330
acid (k1b), and isomerization of the SCIs (k2), as shown in Figure S11. The simplified
331
model does not differentiate syn- and anti-conformers of the SCIs.
332
SCI + Aldehyde/SCI/Acid SOZ/DP/AAH
333
SCI + OL C product
334
SCI → Aci
(1a)
(1b)
$
(2)
335
We set up a model framework to connect the reaction rates to the observed
336
time-resolved product concentrations. The fraction of SCI isomerization (into acid),
337
&'()*+,-.-/01-+2 ⁄&'(3+104 , is equal to the reaction rate of pathway (2) divided by the
338
sum of the reaction rates of all SCI consuming steps:
339
67)89:;